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Predation of Oscaecilia Bassleri (Gymnophiona: Caecilidae) by Anilius Scytale (Serpentes: Aniliidae) in Southeast Peru

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Predation of Oscaecilia Bassleri (Gymnophiona: Caecilidae) by Anilius Scytale (Serpentes: Aniliidae) in Southeast Peru Nota Cuad. herpetol. 30 (1): 29-30 (2016) Predation of Oscaecilia bassleri (Gymnophiona: Caecilidae) by Anilius scytale (Serpentes: Aniliidae) in southeast Peru Jaime Villacampa 1, Andrew Whitworth1, 2 1 The Crees Foundation, Urbanización Mariscal Gamarra B-5 Zona 1 2da Etapa, Cusco, Peru. 2 Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK. Recibida: 15 Abril 2015 ABSTRACT Revisada: 13 Octubre 2015 We report an event of predation between two fossorial species; the snake Anilius scytale on Aceptada: 21 Marzo 2016 the caecilian Oscaecilia bassleri, from the Manu Biosphere Reserve, southeast Peru. This is the Editor Asociado: A. Prudente first ever report of predation on O. bassleri and complements information known about the feeding ecology of A. scytale. Tropical fossorial herpetofauna species are rarely volunteer activities. The specimen was crossing one found due to their secretive lifestyles and therefore, of the pathways within the station, and was caught there is a paucity of information about their ecology and temporarily withheld in the project work area (Maritz and Alexander, 2009; Böhm et al., 2013), to be measured and photographed. At 21:30, during including feeding habits (Maschio et al., 2010). Here the measurements, the individual started to open we report upon a predation event involving two and close its mouth and began to regurgitate an fossorial species; the caecilian, Oscaecilia bassleri individual of O. bassleri (Fig. 1). (Dunn, 1942), predated by the coral pipe snake, The individual of A. scytale was 68.5 cm in Anilius scytale (Linnaeus, 1758). length and weighed 160.9 g, after regurgitation. The The distribution of Anilius scytale ranges individual of O. bassleri was 88 cm long and weighed through the western Amazonian basin lowlands 29.1 g. The caecilian was ingested head first and and foothills, into the tropical rainforests of the therefore the head and anterior end of the body was Guyana Shield (Duellman, 2005; Uetz and Hošek, in the initial process of digestion, while the rest of 2014) and the eastern Amazon region, in Brazil the body was intact. (Maschio et al., 2007). It is known to feed mainly on Anilius scytale has been known to prey upon amphisbaenians, but also on other vertebrates with other caecilian species, such as Siphonops annulatus elongated bodies, such as caecilians, snakes and fish (Greene, 1983) and Caecilia cf. gracilis (Taylor, 1968; (Maschio et al., 2010). Maschio et al., 2010), but this is the first record ever The caecilian O. bassleri is a poorly known spe- made upon O. bassleri. In fact, no other predation cies that occurs through the foothills and lowlands events have ever been documented for O. bassleri. of eastern Ecuador and Peru (IUCN, 2014), yet both species are known to occur in Manu National Park Acknowledgments and its buffer zone in southeast Peru (Catenazzi et We thank The Crees Foundation (www.crees-manu. al., 2013). org) and its director, Quinn Meyer, for supporting On 21st August 2014 at 9:00 am, an individual the herpetological research as part of Crees’ long- of A. scytale was found on the Mascoitania reserve term biodiversity monitoring programme. Thanks to (12°47’21.84”S; 71°23’28.06”W, 460 m a.s.l.), Ama- the University of Glasgow for supporting field work zonian southeast Peru. The locality holds a research conducted at the Manu Learning Centre. We also station and lodge; the Manu Learning Centre, which thank Chicago Herpetological Society, the Louise is situated along the Alto Madre de Dios River, in Hiom Fund and Glasgow Natural History Society the buffer area of Manu National Park. It is a 643 ha for financial support with project and field equip- private reserve owned and operated by The Crees ment. Finally, thanks to Rudolf von May and two Foundation, hosting a base for research, tourism and anonymous reviewers for the confirmation of the Autor para correspondencia: [email protected] 29 J. Villacampa & A. Whitworth - Predation of Oscaecilia bassleri by Anilius scytale Figure 1. A) Specimen of Anilius scytale regurgitating an Oscaecilia bassleri. B) Complete regurgitation. species identification and comments on a previous 2014.3. Available at: <www.iucnredlist.org> Last accessed version of the manuscript. on 7 April 2015. Maritz, B., & Alexander, G.J. 2009. Breaking ground: quantitative fossorial herpetofaunal ecology in South Africa: original Literature cited article. African Journal of Herpetology 58: 1-14. Böhm, M.; Collen, B.; Baillie, J.E.M.; Chanson, J.; Cox, N.; Maschio, G.F., da Costa Prudente, A.L., de Lima, A.C., & Hammerson, G.; Hoffmann, M.; Livingstone, S.R.; Ram, M. Feitosa, D. T. 2007. Reproductive biology of Anilius scytale et al. 2013. The Conservation Status of the World’s Reptiles. (Linnaeus, 1758)(Serpentes, Aniliidae) from eastern Biological Conservation 157: 372-385. Amazonia, Brazil. South American Journal of Herpetology 2: Catenazzi, A., Lehr, E. & von May, R. 2013. The amphibians 179-183. and reptiles of Manu National Park and its buffer zone, Maschio, G.F., Prudente, A.L.D.C., Rodrigues, F.D.S., & Amazon basin and eastern slopes of the Andes, Peru. Biota Hoogmoed, M.S. 2010. Food habits of Anilius scytale Neotropica 13: 1-15. (Serpentes: Aniliidae) in the Brazilian Amazonia. Zoologia Duellman, W.E. 2005. Cusco Amazónico: the lives of amphibians (Curitiba) 27: 184-190. and reptiles in an Amazonian rainforest. Ithaca, Cornell Uetz, P. & Hošek, J. 2014. Anilius scytale, The Reptile Database. University Press. Available at: <http://www.reptile-database.org>. Last Greene, H.W. 1983. Dietary correlates of the origin and radiation accessed on 8 April 2015. of snakes. American Zoologist 23: 431-441. IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. 2014. Oscaecilia bassleri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version © 2016 por los autores, licencia otorgada a la Asociación Herpetológica Argentina. Este artículo es de acceso abierto y distribuido bajo los términos y condiciones de una licencia Atribución-No Comercial 2.5 Argentina de Creative Commons. Para ver una copia de esta licencia, visite http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ar/ 30.
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